As Duke Theseus plans to marry Hippolyta, Egeus enters with his daughter Hermia. Egeus wants her to marry Demetrius, but Hermia loves Lysander. Theseus tells Hermia to obey her father or she will either be put to death or become a nun. When left alone, Hermia and Lysander make plans to elope. Hermia’s friend Helena arrives, bemoaning her unrequited love for Demetrius. Hermia tells Helena about the elopement. Helena decides to tell Demetrius, hoping that Hermia’s rejection of him will make him love Helena. In another part of Athens, a group of mechanicals (laborers) rehearse a play to be performed for the duke’s wedding. In the nearby forest Puck, who serves Oberon, the king of the fairies, encounters a fairy who is preparing for the arrival of Titania, the queen of the fairies. Oberon and Titania meet and quarrel. Oberon insists that she give him a young Indian changeling boy. Titania refuses. Oberon instructs Puck to fetch a magic flower, whose nectar makes people fall in love with the first being they see. Demetrius and Helena arrive in the forest. Oberon takes pity on Helena. When Puck returns with the flower, Oberon gives him some nectar, telling him to use it on the young Athenian man. Oberon finds Titania asleep and puts the magic nectar on her eyes. Lysander and Hermia arrive in the forest
and they, too, settle down to sleep. Searching for a young Athenian, Puck finds Lysander and mistakenly applies the nectar to his eyes. An exhausted Helena stops to rest. Lysander wakes, sees Helena, and, under the influence of the magic flower, falls madly in love with her. Confused by the sudden change in Lysander, Helena assumes that he is mocking her and leaves. Lysander follows. When Hermia wakes up, she is alone in the forest. Near the sleeping Titania, the mechanicals rehearse their play. Puck decides to play a trick on Bottom, giving him a donkey’s head. His fellow actors run away in fright. Titania wakes up and seeing Bottom, falls madly in love with him. Oberon realizes that Puck has enchanted the wrong Athenian and applies the nectar to Demetrius’ eyes. He wakes, sees Helena and falls in love with her. Now both Demetrius and Lysander are in love with a very confused Helena. Oberon tells Puck to fix the mixup. Having persuaded Titania to surrender the Indian boy, Oberon restores Bottom to his human form and releases Titania from the spell. The Athenian court arrives in the forest to prepare for the wedding, finding Hermia, Helena, Lysander and Demetrius asleep nearby. Now that Demetrius loves only Helena, Theseus declares that the two young couples should be married. Bottom wakes up, confused at the strange dream he has had but joins his friends in time to present their play for the duke’s wedding. At Theseus’ palace, the three couples watch the workers’ play with much amusement. When the play ends, the newly married couples go off to bed and Oberon and Titania bless the three couples’ love. Puck bids farewell to the audience as the play comes to an end.
The 16th Annual Shakespeare Classic is the 1 p.m. matinee performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Sunday, March 15. Call the Box Office for tickets: 612.377.2224. Click HERE for more information about past performances.
Congratulations to the Macaroni Kid Ticket Giveaway Winner: Dana Larson
The 16th Annual Shakespeare Classic is the 1 p.m. matinee performance of A Midsummer Night's Dream on Sunday, March 15. Call the Box Office for tickets: 612.377.2224. Click HERE for more information about past performances.
Congratulations to the Macaroni Kid Ticket Giveaway Winner: Dana Larson
